Maryland-based early-stage company Sparo has joined the Microsoft for Startups Program to scale its trademarked Purchase with a Purpose® platform on Microsoft Azure. Microsoft for Startups provides startups with access to powerful technology with a streamlined path to selling alongside Microsoft and its global partner ecosystem. Rob Sobhani, Ph.D., Sparo's founder and CEO stated, "We are honored and delighted to have been chosen by Microsoft to be part of their Startups Program."

Sparo's Purchase with a Purpose platform leverages corporate social responsibility into higher online sales for merchants by marrying e-commerce and charity at the checkout page, thus addressing a major challenge facing online retailers, namely: cart abandonment. Today an average of 67.91% of shopping carts are abandoned. Kyril Revels, Sparo's Chief Software Engineer, explained, "Sparo's plugin can be embedded onto the checkout page of any merchant anywhere in the world thus creating an impact with every online purchase."

Rama Ayman, Sparo's co-founder and CFO added, "We are very excited to scale Sparo within the Microsoft ecosystem and create the world's most consequential company that delivers value to its shareholders, its corporate clients and the public and become a leading force in the $450 billion philanthropy market and the broader $4 trillion global e-commerce industry."

"Microsoft welcomes Sparo to the Microsoft for Startups program," said Tony Shakib, General Manager, IoT Business Acceleration at Microsoft Corp. "Sparo's Purchase with a Purpose democratizes charitable giving by empowering shoppers to select their favorite charity at the checkout page."

About Sparo Corporation

Sparo Corporation was founded in 2018 by noted author and foreign policy expert Rob Sobhani, Ph.D. to democratize global charitable giving. Through its patented e-commerce giving platform, Sparo aims to make it fun and easy to donate to worthy not-for-profits. Sparo operates globally and is based in the Washington, DC Metro area.